Attenuators vs. Overdrives: Need opinions

[Twangman]

Hey folks -

Say a guy has $200 or so and a souped-up tweed Deluxe (6V6's in fixed bias, 5V4 recto, choke, heavy-duty OT, and 2 X 12s).

What is the best value for the $200 - a good attenuator or a good overdrive?

I currently own a Reverend Drivetrain 2 (improved TS9) that has worked really well with my Victoria Bassman and Blackface Super Reverb, but since the Deluxe has a much stronger midrange, the mids may get a little over-bearing.

Otions I've considered are either the Geek MacDaddy British Ball Breaker Overdrive or a Bad Cat Leash Attenuator.

Thoughts???

[Twangman]

BTW: My Deluxe is WAY too loud turned up past 4 or so for most small to medium clubs. The tone on 7 or so is like God, but will get you fired.

[black_labb]

sounds like you should put it back to cathode biased , or if your ot has multiple secondary taps only use one 1x12 to cut 3db.
if you have a head (as opposed to a combo, im not saying your an idiot ), you could invest in a single possibly less sensitive speaker, and use that for lower volumes. speakers make a big difference for volume, but its often niglected.


not really helpful, but they are how i would work.

[Enzo]

What's better, adding an appetizer to dinner, or a dessert?

Overdrives and attenuators are diffferent things. Really, the thing to do is try either one and buy what results in a sound you like better. Distortion is not generic, so adding a distortion pedal won;t produce the same sound as driving the piss out of the amp and then attenuating it down to a level you want. There is no better, there is only what you personally prefer.

[billyz]

A good Overdrive usually cost less than a good Attenuator. They do sound different. An overdrive can be switched in and out. Most attenuators cannot ( unless you build your own ). Attenuators are hard on your tubes. I do own a THD Hotplate and a homebrew Airbrake. But I have not used them in a while.
The downside to most Overdrive pedals is they take away alot of sensitivity.
Some are better though , a lot of my buds like the OCD or the TIM pedal. I personally use one I built that uses no Diodes for clipping just FET's overdriving FET's.
If you are handy then Try the VVR from Dana Hall. easy on the tubes and sounds great.

[tbryanh]

Another option is Power Scaling.

http://www.powerscaling.com/

[gregsguitars]

pedal

Get the Hoochie mama from browntone , he is my cousin and hand builds all his pedals, they are the cats meow.Greg

[mooreamps]

Hey folks -

Say a guy has $200 or so and a souped-up tweed Deluxe (6V6's in fixed bias, 5V4 recto, choke, heavy-duty OT, and 2 X 12s).

What is the best value for the $200 - a good attenuator or a good overdrive?

I currently own a Reverend Drivetrain 2 (improved TS9) that has worked really well with my Victoria Bassman and Blackface Super Reverb, but since the Deluxe has a much stronger midrange, the mids may get a little over-bearing.

Otions I've considered are either the Geek MacDaddy British Ball Breaker Overdrive or a Bad Cat Leash Attenuator.

Thoughts???

Send me a PM. I'll tell you how my passive electronic power brake works.



-g

[Jammin'John]

LOUD

You have made the 5e3 as loud as you can make it.
Go back to a 5y3,stock OT,& 1x12 and you're good.



JJ

[tedmich]

Hey folks -

Say a guy has $200 or so and a souped-up tweed Deluxe (6V6's in fixed bias, 5V4 recto, choke, heavy-duty OT, and 2 X 12s).

What is the best value for the $200 - a good attenuator or a good overdrive?

I currently own a Reverend Drivetrain 2 (improved TS9) that has worked really well with my Victoria Bassman and Blackface Super Reverb, but since the Deluxe has a much stronger midrange, the mids may get a little over-bearing.

Otions I've considered are either the Geek MacDaddy British Ball Breaker Overdrive or a Bad Cat Leash Attenuator.

Thoughts???

don't mean to be bitchy but why have an amp that needs an overdrive/distortion pedal? Or for that matter an amp which only sounds good when its vaporizing your bedroom walls? >90% of players need a small mean amp...(end of unprovoked rant!)

I am sure you have a wonderful amp, I'd buy a hotplate and/or make an extension cab with little inefficient speakers; my PV Ultra 212 sounds great (and reasonably loud) through a little 2x6.5 Focal B4 enclosure (~86db/w)

[imaradiostar]

How about a simplified DIY airbrake for around $75 and a DIY runoffgroove distortion for less than $100 including parts? I'm partial to the "thor" design myself but I like big crunchy marshall sounds. You might like some of the others- they're easy to breadboard and try to see what you like. This way you can have both!

jamie

[J M Fahey]

The tone on 7 or so is like God

You have answered yourself.
"Un-upgrade" your amp to original spec, that should tame it.
Use a Jensen C or P12Q , Mod12-50 or Celestion G12L35 (they are all about the same), great sound, lower sensitivity, don't think you must go lower than that.
If you want versatility and want to have your cake and eat it, place a switchable SS/Tube rectifier; a fixed/cathode bias switch; re-install it in a compact combo cabinet with one of the above suggested 12" speakers and make a 2x12", high efficiency speakers, for larger places, using your combo as a head only.
*Or*, consider power scaling.
Pedals can be *very* good, but a Tweed Deluxe on 7, oh my God!!!

[Jammin'John]

Pedals

Pedals can sound good but an amp like the 5e3 sound fantastic on it's own when you crank it and when you back off the guitar volume she cleans up nice.

JJ

[cminor9]

Pedals can be *very* good, but a Tweed Deluxe on 7, oh my God!!!

I agree. There is no pedal I have ever heard that sounds like a cranked 5E3. Even the ones with tubes; they sound like every other pedal (which sounds like overdriven 12ax7s, boooooring)

I would recommend putting the thing back to stock, and run it through one speaker. I gig with a 5E3 all the time. Even relatively stock, though, it can still be too loud for certain gigs IMO. Usually it just works out that the quiet gigs need a clean tone (jazz) and the loud gigs (rock, blues) need the dirt. It'll work unless you're one of those poor souls who has the misfortune of playing with wannabe rocks stars who insist on playing through cranked Fender HotRod Deluxes and the like at small-club gigs.

I have heard of guys making the fixed/cathode biasing switchable. You could try that for starters and put back the 5Y3.

[Chuck H]

I'm a fan of cranked amp tone myself. But... Being as you mentioned "clubs" I have to assume you need tonal versitility on a footswitch. That's not easy to do with an attenuator. So, for your purposes I would say you need a pedal for live gigs and an attenuator for those times when you don't NEED a clean tone by pressing a footswitch. So you need both. But as has been mentioned, you can build the attenuator yourself and save some $$$. You could also build a distortion pedal, but there are so many good ones out there that the effort hardly makes sense. So I say build an attenuator and buy a pedal. Have your cake my man.

I designed a good attenuator that is very affordable to build. I'm happy to share if your interested. On the same line, you could take Gary up on his offer to share his power reduction circuit. It works well too, and if you build it yourself it should be very affordable.

Chuck